Once you’ve done the hard work of setting your holiday marketing goals (perhaps increasing brand awareness or revenue), don’t forget to check in periodically to make sure that your campaign is meeting the mark. Choose the metrics that tie to your goals, and track them regularly. For example, if your goal is to increase your brand awareness by generating traffic to your website, track your email click-through rates. By the same token, don’t focus too much on metrics that are not related to your goals. If you want to increase revenue, and you’re performing in that area, don’t sweat lower email open rates.

Historical data can also be very helpful as you measure against your goals. If you had similar holiday marketing goals last year, compare where you are today to where you were at the same time last year. If you are under-performing, consider revisiting some of your more successful promotions from last year.